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War of the Worlds (2005) Known Trivia

While filming nearby, Tom Cruise, along with a 20-member entourage, including Steven Spielberg, visited a Lexington, Virginia, Dairy Queen. War of the Worlds 2005 Cruise saw a jar on the counter with a photo of Ashley Flint and her story. War of the Worlds 2005 Flint was in a go-cart accident a few months earlier, leaving her family with a mountain of hospital bills. War of the Worlds 2005 Cruise put $5000 cash into the jar. War of the Worlds 2005 7 of 8 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

During the filming of the underwater scenes (where the ferry capsizes) Steven Spielberg played a prank on Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning by playing the dramatic music from Jaws (1975) (also one of Spielberg’s films) through the massive underwater speakers on the sound stage. War of the Worlds 2005 3 of 3 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

An actual out-of-use Boeing 747 was bought to be used as the crashed plane. War of the Worlds 2005 2 of 2 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

Shots that were seen in the trailer were not in the finished theatrical release. War of the Worlds 2005 The most notable of these is named “camelot” for its ethereal lighting design where Robbie, Ray and Rachel encounter a roving battalion of tripods in a deserted Massachusetts neighborhood. War of the Worlds 2005 They watch from behind a SUV as a tripod pulls people out of a building with its tentacles. War of the Worlds 2005 2 of 3 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

Steven Spielberg owns one of the last copies of the Orson Welles radio script, which he purchased at an auction. War of the Worlds 2005 The director wanted to make the film years ago, but decided against it when Independence Day (1996) was released. War of the Worlds 2005 However, the director wanted to work with Tom Cruise again after Minority Report (2002) and picked War of the Worlds (2005) as their next project. War of the Worlds 2005 1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

One scene shows Ray running out of the house to find Robbie, while dozens of people are right outside his house photographing the lightning storm. War of the Worlds 2005 To film the scene, producers hired people on the street to come to the street at the time of shooting with a camera and film so they could get pictures of Tom Cruise for free. War of the Worlds 2005 1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

Right before the Hudson Ferry scene, Ray and his children watch in horror as a locomotive speeds by on fire, and out of control. War of the Worlds 2005 The train is part of the MTA Metro-North Railroad, which runs in New York, New Jersey, and Conneticut. War of the Worlds 2005 It can be identified by the paint scheme on the side. War of the Worlds 2005 1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

Justin Chatwin plays a character who has Dragonball toys on the shelf in his room. War of the Worlds 2005 Appropriate, Chatwin would later play Goku in Dragonball: Evolution (2009). War of the Worlds 2005 1 of 1 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

The words “alien” and “Martian” are never spoken in the movie. War of the Worlds 2005 While it was plausible in 1898 to believe that sentient beings could live on Mars, this had been debunked by the late 20th century, so for verisimilitude, the aliens’ origin point is left undefined. War of the Worlds 2005 1 of 2 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

After Ray and the kids reach dry land when the ferry is attacked and sunk, air raid sirens go off. War of the Worlds 2005 On the day of extras casting in Athens, New York, the air raid sirens were tested, causing jokes among the extras that the Martians were coming too soon before the cameras. War of the Worlds 2005 1 of 2 found this interesting Interesting? YesNo |

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Goofs: Factual errors: When they're exiting the home where the jumbo jet crashed, the cockpit window is broken with a hole in it. War of the Worlds 2005 Cockpit windows do not break like windows in homes. War of the Worlds 2005 They are in fact multiple layers of various materials including special glass, heating elements, bonding materials, etc, and when they break, they "spiderweb" into many, many small pieces. War of the Worlds 2005 The window in this scene appeared to be a single pane of glass that looked like it had a rock thrown through it.

War of the Worlds (2005) Plot: As Earth is invaded by alien tripod fighting machines, one family fights for survival. War of the Worlds 2005 Full summary » »

War of the Worlds (2005) Story: Ray Ferrier (Cruise) is a divorced dockworker and less-than-perfect father. War of the Worlds 2005 When his ex-wife and her new husband drop off his teenage son Robbie and young daughter Rachel for a rare weekend visit, a strange and powerful lightning storm suddenly touches down. War of the Worlds 2005 What follows is the extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family fighting to survive it in this contemporary retelling of H.G. War of the Worlds 2005 Wells seminal classic sci-fi thriller. War of the Worlds 2005 Written byMajorwest

War of the Worlds (2005) Synopsis: Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a divorced union container crane operator with few skills as a father. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray’s ex-wife (Miranda Otto) drops off their rebelious but coming of age teenage son Robbie (Justin Chatwin), and meek 10-year old daughter Rachel (Dakota Fanning) for a weekend visit with their father in New Jersey. War of the Worlds 2005 (Filmed in Bayonne in the shadow of the worlds longest arch bridge.) Ray is a self-absorbed individual who feels imposed upon by having to baby sit his own children. War of the Worlds 2005 Then something happens that will change their entire lives. War of the Worlds 2005 An unusual and violent lightning storm hits the town. War of the Worlds 2005 In the intersection down the street, Ray sees a huge three-legged war machine rise from beneath the street. War of the Worlds 2005 The machine begins to fire and incinerate everything and everybody. War of the Worlds 2005 The Martians have begun the war by attacking Earth with only one goal in mind, destroying everything in sight. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray becomes a real father when he decides to protect his children and take them to their mother house. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray grabs his handgun and a few supplies and steals a minivan from his friends service station, begging the friend to come with them, but leaving him behind when he doesn’t understand the danger and refuses to get in. War of the Worlds 2005 The mother and her new husband have already left for Boston so the Ferriers hole up in their house. War of the Worlds 2005 Overnight, the Martians show up around their and cause great destruction. War of the Worlds 2005 A news van is outside and the reporter informs Ray the Machines are in all cities. War of the Worlds 2005 They decide to try to make it to Boston They start running for their lives and are just ahead of the Martians, when they get caught up in a frantic mob of people in upstate NY who are also fleeing the machines. War of the Worlds 2005 The mob tries to get in the car or take it away from them. War of the Worlds 2005 In a Mexican standoff, Ray relinquishes the car to an armed gunman in exchange for letting him get Rachel out of the car. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray drops his gun which is picked up by another mobmember who shoots the other gunman. War of the Worlds 2005 They manage to get on a ferry as several more machines rise in the distance and the ferry leaves before it’s full. War of the Worlds 2005 A machine rises from the river and overturns the ferry but the Ferriers swim to shore. War of the Worlds 2005 Robbie follows an Army unit into battle against Ray’s wishes but he cannot stop him. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray and Rachel are taken in by a sole man holed up in the basement of his rural house. War of the Worlds 2005 Machines are all around and they send a camera tentical into the basement where they are holed up to look for humans which they avoid by moving and hiding. War of the Worlds 2005 Then some Martians come in personally to investigate, but they’re called back to the ship before they find the humans. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray and the homeowner dispute over how to handle the situation. War of the Worlds 2005 The machines have increased in number and are everywhere, and they can not be destroyed by our military. War of the Worlds 2005 They make it to Boston and the Martians start dying from various sickness caused by germs that humans are built up immunity to, but the Martians don’t have. War of the Worlds 2005 Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

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Ray Ferrier is a dock crane worker who leaves his shift in Brooklyn and drives home to meet his ex-wife, Mary Ann, and his two kids, Robbie and Rachel, at his home in Bayonne, New Jersey. War of the Worlds 2005 When he arrives, late, they are all waiting for him. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray sees that Mary Ann is pregnant. War of the Worlds 2005 After a few minutes of debate, over the children sharing a room and Robbie’s homework assignment due on Monday, Mary Ann and her new husband leave for Boston to visit her parents for the weekend.

Ray mildly orders his son to play catch with him in the back yard. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray notices that Robbie now wears a Boston Red Sox hat; Ray is a Yankees fan. War of the Worlds 2005 While the two play catch it becomes clear that father and son share a strained relationship. War of the Worlds 2005 After a brief argument, Robbie allows one of Ray’s throws to fly past him and break a window in the basement. War of the Worlds 2005 Rachel comments that Ray "won’t reach" Robbie by being belligerent. War of the Worlds 2005 Rachel asks what they should have for lunch and Ray coldly replies "you know, order." Ray goes upstairs to his bedroom to get some sleep.

When he wakes up several hours later, he finds Rachel watching cartoons in the living room. War of the Worlds 2005 She also informs her father that Robbie has taken off with his prized Mustang. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray becomes furious and rushes out to the street to find Robbie. War of the Worlds 2005 People have gathered on the street; every car has stopped running. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray also sees everyone looking to the north of his block where a strange storm appears to be swirling in the wrong direction. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray goes into his backyard, taking Rachel with him. War of the Worlds 2005 The wind picks up, but blows towards the storm. War of the Worlds 2005 Suddenly, several bolts of lightning begin to strike the ground, some hitting dangerously close to Ray’s yard. War of the Worlds 2005 He and Rachel rush back into the house for shelter and find that every clock has stopped and the power is out. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray’s watch has stopped and his cellphone is dead. War of the Worlds 2005 After telling Rachel to stay in the house, he goes outside and finds Robbie nearby; his son had taken his car downtown and left it there when it stalled. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray orders Robbie to watch his sister until he comes back. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray passes by an auto repair shop where the owner, Manny, tells him that the starter is burned out on a minivan he’s looking over. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray tells Manny to replace the solenoid.

Ray walks downtown to the site where the lightning struck. War of the Worlds 2005 A crowd has gathered around a large hole in the street. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray touches a piece of the cracked pavement and finds that it’s unusually cold. War of the Worlds 2005 Suddenly the ground under the hole surges upward and everyone scatters. War of the Worlds 2005 A car that fell into the hold is thrown out. War of the Worlds 2005 A huge machine on three stilted legs bursts out of the hole and observes the crowds. War of the Worlds 2005 It lets out a loud blast like a fog horn and as the crowd continues to scatter, it begins to incinerate dozens of people with blasts of heat beams; people are turned instantly into ash when the beams strike them. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray runs, escaping through a department store; as he does, the ash from an unfortunate victim covers him. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray hides behind a building and watches the monstrous machine walk by. War of the Worlds 2005 He is reminded of Robbie and Rachel when a man runs by carrying his own child.

Ray returns home in utter shock. War of the Worlds 2005 Barely speaking to his kids and washing the ash from his face and hair, he tells them both that they’re leaving immediately. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray has Robbie take everything in his refrigerator and Ray retrieves a small pistol, tucking it into his belt. War of the Worlds 2005 They go to Manny’s garage and climb into the minivan the mechanic had been working on; since he’d replaced the solenoid, the car is able to run. War of the Worlds 2005 Manny thinks Ray is joking with him until Ray tells him in a serious tone to come with them. War of the Worlds 2005 As he tells Ray to get out of the car, the nearby Bayonne Bridge collapses. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray speeds off while his kids become panicky, especially Rachel, who has a problem with enclosed spaces. War of the Worlds 2005 Robbie tries to calm her. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray tells Robbie about the machine and the destruction it caused. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray plans to take his kids to a safe place, hopefully their mother and stepfather’s house.

Arriving at Mary Ann’s house, they find it deserted. War of the Worlds 2005 The trio have a brief argument over what to eat and Ray takes them down to the basement where they’ll spend the night. War of the Worlds 2005 After a few hours of restless sleep, Ray wakes up and hears a commotion outside, which becomes a deafening roar. War of the Worlds 2005 The three rush into the basement’s utility room and lock the door against a wall of flames.

When Ray wakes up several hours later, he walks upstairs to find most of the house demolished. War of the Worlds 2005 The commotion from the previous night was caused by a plane that had crashed in the neighborhood. War of the Worlds 2005 While Ray walks by, he sees a man in the wreckage of the plane, cleaning out the food service carts. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray finds out that he’s a cameraman for a news network and is there with a woman reporter. War of the Worlds 2005 The woman tells Ray that the reports about the tripods are all the same, once they start moving, no more reports or news come from the area they attack.

Ray gathers his family and they set out again in the minivan. War of the Worlds 2005 They drive for a while and pull over when Rachel needs to relieve herself. War of the Worlds 2005 She defiantly walks farther than Ray wishes her to and stops by a creek. War of the Worlds 2005 While she looks at the water, she sees dozens of human bodies floating by. War of the Worlds 2005 She is terrified by the sight until Ray suddenly finds her and scolds her for wandering off too far. War of the Worlds 2005 Back at the truck, and Army convoy passes by. War of the Worlds 2005 Robbie seems overcome with anger and wants to join them in their counterattack against the invaders. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray tries to reason with Robbie, telling him that the idea of them joining up with the Army is ludicrous.

Ray lets Robbie drive for a while so he and his daughter can get some sleep. War of the Worlds 2005 They come to a small town where evacuated people have gathered. War of the Worlds 2005 The crowd quickly becomes hostile toward Ray’s family and wants their vehicle. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray and Robbie are forcefully pulled from the truck and beaten by the mob. War of the Worlds 2005 Rachel panics and Ray, gathering his senses, uses his gun to force the crowd to retreat a bit. War of the Worlds 2005 Moments later, he is forced to drop his pistol when another man, determined to take the truck for himself, holds a pistol on Ray. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray is permitted to get Rachel out of the truck and walk away. War of the Worlds 2005 The crowd again becomes violent and the man who took the minivan is attacked.

The family continues to walk with the crowds of evacuees. War of the Worlds 2005 At a railroad crossing, a train zooms by, the entire length of it is on fire. War of the Worlds 2005 At a ferry crossing in Athens, New York, the family waits to cross the river on one of the boats. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray meets a woman he knows who has her own daughter in tow. War of the Worlds 2005 The sound of the alien call is heard nearby and the crowd of people begin to rush the ferry. War of the Worlds 2005 Army guards close the gates and deny Ray, his friend and their kids entry. War of the Worlds 2005 The see a way to bypass the gates and make it to the boat, but only Ray and his kids are able to board. War of the Worlds 2005 Robbie sees that several people are trying to climb over the ferry’s ramp and goes to help them. War of the Worlds 2005 As the boat crosses the river, another tripod attacks it, turning it over and spilling cars and people into the water. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray and the kids surface and swim for shore as tentacles from the tripod grab people out of the water. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray and the kids make it to the opposite shore. War of the Worlds 2005 While they steal away, they see garments floating down from sky.

Still walking, the family passes by a battle between the aliens and the Army. War of the Worlds 2005 Jets zip by overhead and Robbie somehow becomes entranced by the battle, which is unseen and taking place over a hill. War of the Worlds 2005 Robbie approaches it while Ray and Rachel yell for him to come back. War of the Worlds 2005 Robbie ignores them and is stopped at the top of the hill by Army personnel. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray leaves Rachel under a tree and confronts Robbie, telling him that he doesn’t need to become involved and that his sister is very worried about him. War of the Worlds 2005 Robbie insists that he needs to see the battle and Ray reluctantly lets him go, accepting that he can’t stop his son’s obsession. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray picks up Rachel just as a final assault of helicopters fails to stop the tripods. War of the Worlds 2005 The last thing Ray sees after Robbie rushes over the hill is a tripod looming over a wall of fire. War of the Worlds 2005 It also becomes obvious that the tripods have a protective shield covering them that repels all bombardment. War of the Worlds 2005 Just then Ray and Rachel are called by a man who owns a nearby house. War of the Worlds 2005 The owner, Olgilvy, offers them sanctuary in his basement. War of the Worlds 2005 However, it becomes clear to Ray that Olgilvy is mentally unstable and plans to tunnel out of the basement.

A series of loud noises from upstairs prompt the group to hide. War of the Worlds 2005 A snake-like probe is sent into the basement. War of the Worlds 2005 The group narrowly avoids detection and the probe is withdrawn after a few minutes. War of the Worlds 2005 Later, three of the aliens enter the basement – they are three-legged and very curious. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray also stops Olgilvy from shooting them with his shotgun, knowing the noise will attract more of them. War of the Worlds 2005 The aliens leave when their horn sounds.

Ray also discovers that the aliens are covering the landscape with a mysterious and rapidly-growing red vine and they are using blood harvested from humans they’ve captured to fertilize it. War of the Worlds 2005 At this revelation, Olgilvy becomes extremely agitated, digging frantically in his basement and muttering "Not MY blood!" repeatedly. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray realizes that if Olgilvy continues to act the same way, he’ll only grow worse and they’ll all be found. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray tries one last time to calm the man but fails. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray has Rachel put on her headphones and listen to her music while he confronts and kills Olgilvy behind a closed door. War of the Worlds 2005 After he emerges from the room, Ray and Rachel fall asleep. War of the Worlds 2005 When Rachel awakes, she sees the alien probe has returned and they’ve been discovered. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray uses an axe to cut the eye of the probe off, however, Rachel has fled the house. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray rushes out in time to see her captured by a tripod. War of the Worlds 2005 The tripod attacks Ray, who hides in a nearby Humvee, and he’s flipped over. War of the Worlds 2005 The tripod loses interest in him, however Ray uses a grenade from a belt he finds to get it’s attention. War of the Worlds 2005 It uses a tentacle to lift him into an underslung cage filled with other people. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray finds Rachel, who’s in deep shock. War of the Worlds 2005 While Ray figures out how to escape, a large valve opens overhead and sucks up one of the captives. War of the Worlds 2005 The valve then tries to capture Ray, who takes the grenade belt with him. War of the Worlds 2005 His fellow captives keep hold of his arm and drag him back. War of the Worlds 2005 When Ray lands in the cage, he shows a soldier that he’d pulled the pins from two of the grenades. War of the Worlds 2005 They explode inside the tripod and the cage is released, falling onto a nearby tree, freeing everyone.

Ray and Rachel make it to Boston. War of the Worlds 2005 While being directed by more soldiers, Ray notices that the red weeds are dying and that a tripod has come down. War of the Worlds 2005 Another nearby tripod sounds it’s horn and everyone flees. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray notices that a small flock of birds have landed on the tripod – it’s shield is not functioning. War of the Worlds 2005 Ray relays this discovery to a captain standing by, who orders his platoon to bring up Javelin missiles. War of the Worlds 2005 Several missiles are fired at the defenseless tripod, which collapses, demolishing a building. War of the Worlds 2005 The evacuees and soldiers approach the tripod, which opens a hatch, spilling a bright orange fluid. War of the Worlds 2005 An alien arm with a pink hue (instead of the steel-gray color Ray had seen on the aliens in the basement) falls out limply. War of the Worlds 2005 The aliens are dying of some unknown cause.

Ray walks Rachel to his in-laws’ house. War of the Worlds 2005 His ex-wife and her new husband are there, along with her parents. War of the Worlds 2005 Rachel runs to her mother. War of the Worlds 2005 Robbie steps out of the house too and he an Ray embrace.

The narrator’s voice returns and informs us that the aliens had killed billions, however they were defenseless against disease-carrying bacteria to which humans have long been immune.

10 Comments

Nigel St. Buggering from Seattle, WA01 Jan 2014, 5:33 pm

What Spielberg, Cruise, and Koepp accomplish here in the first two actsis nothing short of revolutionary. They’ve made a big-budget summerblockbuster about massive destruction and action that manages tostudiously avoid every cliché and expectation of such films. It staysresolutely on the characters’ points of view, showing us almost nothingthey don’t see, even to the point of coming tantalizingly close to araging battle, then avoiding showing it. It keeps its focus oncharacter instead of spectacle. The "hero" of the piece remainsdecidedly unheroic, wanting only to escape, and trying to talk othersout of fighting back. The purpose of every piece of action is tofrighten and disturb rather than thrill, making ingenious use offamiliar 9/11 imagery. At the end of the second act, it is hands-downthe best alien invasion film ever made, and perhaps one of the bestsci-films of all time.

Then something strange happens. The filmmakers lose their nerve, andremember that this is an extremely expensive summer film financed bytwo studios. Or perhaps it was the fact that it stars Tom Cruise, whoup to this point has spent almost two hours doing nothing but run forhis life. Suddenly, and tragically, the film changes, violating notonly its carefully established tone, but its own internal logic.Suddenly, Cruise begins to act like a hero, and summer action clichésforce their way into the story like a worm into an apple. Thetransition is jarring, and it creates a serious disconnect from thestory.

While it’s true that Wells’ original ending creates a problem for amovie, here they try to remain faithful to it, while still shoehorningmoments of triumph into the conclusion. Unfortunately, these momentscome off as alternately false, unbelievable, and meaningless, since itisn’t mankind that defeats the invaders in the end.

Is it recommendable? Well, I suppose that depends on what kind ofviewer you are. If you feel that 75% brilliant material overshadows the25% that falls apart, then you’ll enjoy it. If, however, you’re thekind of viewer who feels that the final impression a movie makes is itsultimate stamp on your memory, you may be in for a crushingdisappointment. On the other hand, if you’re the kind of viewer whojust likes the cliché of the boom-boom summer action spectacle, you’relikely to be bored and frustrated with the first two acts, and onlyengage in the end. It is confused about what audience it’s trying toreach, and consequently, isn’t likely to satisfy any of them.

After the screening, some people cheered and clapped, others sat indisgust and laughed. I felt cheated. Spielberg was not even playingwithin his own rules. When the attack begins, every piece of electronicequipment stops working. There is even a nice shot of Tom Cruise’swatch, stopped, of course. However, moments later when the Tripod risesfrom the earth, people are snapping pictures on digital cameras and oneperson is videotaping everything on a camcorder.

The movie does have some great effects but the storyline is seriouslylacking. The part of the movie that left me feeling cheated is the end.We have just seen the destruction of millions of humans, but Cruise isable to make it to Boston, a large city, where the streets aredeserted. We focus in on a row of Brownstones where a single familyemerges. The family looks as if they are about to go to a wedding.Everyone is clean, well dressed, and Tom Cruise’s ex-mother-in-lawlooks like she just had a manicure. We are supposed to believe thatafter this horrible attack, this one family is unscathed and reunitedin a major city? Don’t be ridiculous. I hoped this movie would be ablockbuster. Something to make me believe Hollywood is generatingcreative, and innovative stories to take me away from reality for acouple of hours. This movie was a serious disappointment.

Having never seen the original, my point of view is going to be basedon the movie itself, not its history. And my negative review is in noway tarnished by Cruise's strange behavior. Cruise and Jacko areprobably brothers separated at birth but don't know it, but that'sanother issue.

I'm not sure who's to blame for this movie. Perhaps Spielberg had toomany yes-men around him (or yes-women, let's be inclusive here).Perhaps the original WOTW is a lot like this and Spielberg liked it somuch, this was meant to be his tribute. Whatever. This one stinks.Tributes shouldn't stink.

This movie had potential (and lotsa hype) but was utterly ruined by the"I'm-a-bad-father" subplot that the movie kept diverting to allthroughout the film. Spielberg poured on the syrup at these points andit really did make me roll my eyes after awhile. The scene on the hillwhere the brother, for reasons that were not at all explained, just-had- to see what was going on on the other side of the hill actuallymade me squirm. His line about "if you love me you'll let me go" wasstraight out of the cornfields. Awful.

Dakota did a decent job but this certainly pales in comparison to othermovies I've seen her in, like Man on Fire. As usual, Dakota and herbrother play the smart-ass kids to the inept father. Never seen thatbefore, have we Steve? Turn on the TV and there's hundreds of showswith characters like that already on.

Don't get me started on the basement scene. Completely unnecessary andwent on WAY too long. The bit with the proboscis was just completelysilly. Spielberg's version of horror/suspense I guess. One minute thealiens are out there tilling up the earth on a global scale with ahorrific ferocity, the next minute they send this little wormyproboscis thing down into the basement to ever-so-gently poke around.Ooh, be careful, don't touch anything! Not to mention Farmer Tedthinking he's going to kill these things with a SHOTGUN of all things.Tim Robbins never could do scenes well with high levels of emotion, andhe does it again here. Anytime he has to show intense emotion, thecorners of his mouth curl down in a frown and that's as far as it goes.Like clockwork.

When the ship starts to come out of the ground, and even after it hascome completely out of the ground, the people around it largely stay inthe same spot and are STANDING THERE STARING AT IT. A three-leggedbehemoth… just came out of the ground from nowhere… 200+ feet tallwith arms for days… and these geniuses are standing around waiting tosee what it will do next? Only when it starts putting the smack down oneveryone do they seem to give up any hope that it's E.T. and start torun away. Did they expect some sort of welcoming party instead?

The idea that thousands of those things, as huge as they are, could liedormant under the ground without being detected. To accept that youwould have to perform far more than suspension of disbelief and gostraight for the alternate universe explanation. Pure laziness if youask me, like Spielberg didn't give a damn about providing a plausiblebackground for these creatures.

Lots and lots of little events that dead-end into nowhere. The friendswho miss the boat. Who are they? Why should we care that they didn'tmake it? The reporters who are scrounging around for scraps of food asthough they haven't eaten in weeks when the aliens just showed up LESSTHAN A DAY AGO. We care that her sidekick is deaf why? The airplane.Why is it such a huge deal that one has crashed? Their minivan musthave a protective shield of its own because the neighborhood-razingplane didn't put a scratch on their getaway car. Oh look! There's aneat little path for them to drive the minivan out of this mess.

For a bunch of alien invaders, talk about poor planning…. They sentwaves of tripods to select locations and no ships to other locations,thereby offering people a place to run away to. And if they've "beenwatching us" for so long, wouldn't they have figured out beforehandthat there are things on our planet that will kill them? Apparentlynot. They're smart enough to build these monstrous craft but not smartenough to build leak-free suits (or any suits for that matter) in casethere's some icky bugs that might kill them? Brilliant!

Ah anyway, I'd like my money back please. What a stinker! Spielbergblew it with this one by once again making the meat and potatoes of thefilm take a back seat to some sort of dysfunctional family crisisresolution. If Cruise had been the only main character, if hischaracter had been more of a hero-type, if they'd thrown out the wholefamily bit, this would've been a lot better. But they didn't.

Did Steve just give up on this movie at one point and say to hell withit, this movie's too far gone to achieve redemption? It certainly looksthat way. This film doesn't even look like a finished product. Thislooks like a whole bunch of plots thrown together before a good editorcomes along and puts together a cohesive film.

James Cameron and Stephen Spielberg famously ushered forward the CGIrevolution in the early 90's with films like "Terminator 2" and"Jurassic Park". They set a trend, and since the late 90's we've beenhit with one CGI adventure movie after the other.

But Spielberg had his fun with his CGI dinosaurs, and soon moved on.While lesser directors scrambled onto the CGI bandwagon, churning outsoulless nonsense like "Resident Evil" and "Tomb Raider", Spielbergchanged gears and directed "Saving Private Ryan", "Minority Report","The Terminal", "AI" etc. Argue about the quality of those movies allyou want, but what I'm trying to get at is that this guy tries his bestto stay ahead of the game. Ahead of the trends.

"Saving Private Ryan" broke new ground. I think it's a bad film, butnevertheless, it now serves as a template for all future war movies.Look at "Black Hawk Down". Can you imagine it shot with the static feelof, say, "Platoon"?

So here we have "War of the Worlds", and again we see Spielbergdeveloping a new "eye". And that is what fascinates me most about thisfilm. The camera stays fixed on Cruise and his family. We catchfleeting glimpses of the alien invaders and their war machines. Thedestruction and special effects whir by in the background, ominous andlooming but never dominating the screen.

Spielberg's camera is always running away, frantic, afraid to look atthe destruction, panning away from the effects, terrified! And what'sterrific is that this new eye suits the story.

I suppose it was only a matter of time before a director decided toconsciously play down special effects for dramatic purposes. Spielbergtreats his CGI as though it isn't special. It doesn't hog thelimelight. Instead we catch fleeting glimpses, too scared to look atthe horror. Of course this filming style is not new. But like "Ryan",no other movie has ever used this technique from start to finish withsuch intensity.

Aisde from this "eye", the movie is actually pretty standard. Insteadof children hiding from Raptors in cupboards, we have Cruise hidingfrom invaders in basements. Spielberg handles the tension well, but itsall stuff you've seen him and others do before.

Like "Jurassic Park", the human drama is slight and the characters arenever believable, but this is a popcorn movie and so we don't demandsuch things. That Spielberg quickly sketches relatively threedimensional characters in such brisk time is admirable. And of coursethere are numerous iconic set pieces. The night sequences in particularhave a nightmarish quality and the first hour is very engaging.

The film's big flaw, however, is it's final act. Tom Cruise battles aTripod in silly a 1 on 1 showdown, before the plot slowly fizzles intonothingness. Spielberg also misfires by choosing to show the alieninvaders. His aliens are unimaginative and badly designed. But what doyou expect? Here's the guy who couldn't resist showing us inside theUFO in "Close Encounters". Sometimes too much imagination denotes alack of imagination.

The choice to "show" so much during the last act also goes against theaesthetic rules of the film. Early in the film, Robby runs up a hillyelling that he "wants to see!" the battle on the other side. "I needto see this!" he screams. His father holds him down and says "I know itseems like you have to see this, but you don't!" Meanwhile all aroundthem, extras run about chanting "turn around!". Spielberg acknowledgesthat his camera is always "turned around", running from the creatures.The irony is that Spielberg, like Robby, isn't strong enough to holdhimself back. By the final act, he loses strength and undoes all thebrilliance he set up.

Still, the camera work here is worthy of De Palma. I suspect within thenext few years, everybody will be copying the style of this film. Itwill be interesting to see how Spielberg chooses to shoot his nextmovie.

8/10 – Worth multiple viewings. Despite it's flaws, this is excellentpopcorn fun. In the wake of 9/11 the film can also be read as anotherpropagandistic Spielberg movie, America under attack by technologicallyadvanced "sleeper cell terrorists" buried within the homeland andwaiting to strike. Thank God Spielberg didn't put beards on his aliens.

Note: People complain that the "red blood" sets at the end of the filmare fake, but this is a homage to Menzies' expressionistic work on"Invaders from Mars". Those who hate the fact that Cruise's son lives,should see "The Mist", Frank Darabond's brilliant re-imagining ofSpielberg's film.

If a town centre cracked open in broad daylight, revealing a 500ftmetal flower of death, you'd know about it a mile away. However, whenCruise and his appallingly unsympathetic kids (including theinterminably shrieking girl-woman that is known as Dakota Fanning, whosurely slid straight from the birth canal clutching an agent) flee tothe 'burbs, it's as if the news hasn't filtered through, withby-standers milling about doing nothing much of anything.

Imagine a lightning storm ripping through Clapham, followed by animmense metal tripod, vaporising everything in its path. (No clothes,mind – just the people inside them. Perhaps these aliens are after ourlaundry. Actually, there's a Woody Allen routine about that, and itmakes a lot more sense.) Imagine the noise. The smell. Were you inBalham, you'd know about it. Worlds would have us believe you wouldn'tlift an eyebrow. Simply, when Cruise and co aren't in immediate shot,these tripods don't appear to exist. The only reason we know they do,is because a TV crew has a video – a VHS! – of them eating up somebuildings somewhere else. Europe, apparently, has already been mostlydecimated. Well, how incredibly lucky that massive landmass called theUnited States merely suffered a flesh wound in Boston. Although Europe,admittedly, is the subject of the movie's one decent joke.

Worse is to come: a pinch of Cameron here, a steal of Bruckheimerthere, this is one of the most derivative movies yet – albeit one withobvious stage sets and pound-shop CGI. It's as if Spielberg has sunkdown under the weight of so much shoulder perching, and has beenreduced to foraging for ideas in the mud. The aliens, when they finallyemerge from their tripods, are duffers: neither scary, not convincing –while their reconnaissance 'tendril' sports a couple of plasticreflectors that wouldn't look out of place on a mountain bike.

On that note, the one effort to bamboozle the uni-eyed tendril islaughable too: they place a mirror in its way. Surely something of thispower and capacity isn't going to fooled by a bunch of reconstitutedsilica? The acting, as you'd expect, is uniformly awful – Cruise (whospecialises in playing gormless obnoxious assholes) is especially bad –his two facial expressions wavering from "shock" to "delayed shock" atinopportune moments.

The pacing's terrible – it just suddenly ends, bang. The aliens catchcolds and die. Film over. And most surprisingly in a Spielberg flick,there's no emotional clout here – at one point, the elder son begs hisdad to let him go and see the front-line military action – not to jointhem in the fighting, just to have a gawp. "If you love me, you'll letme go" he says. It's supposed to be one of the Big EmotionalHighpoints, but just comes across as a surly teenager (who hitherto wasnot surly) throwing a tantrum because he wants a better view of thefireworks.

The final shot of Ray delivering the kids back to mum and new boyfriend(in a bizarrely peaceful and untouched street) may as well be theculmination of having successfully delivered them home from aparticularly lengthy snarl-up round the one-way gyratory system.

There's not one sympathetic character in the entire film, and by theend of the movie Ray's still an a**hole. No redemption, no lessonslearned – other than aliens should carry a packet of fisherman'sfriends with them before they set out.

Spielberg! Tom Cruise!! A tried-and-true sci-fi classic by H. G.Wells!!! Together they should add up to a great summer popcorn movie,but here’s how to squander a golden opportunity by making all the wrongchoices: Make sure there isn’t a single sympathetic human character inthe entire film, so that we’ll be sure to root for the Martians (orwhatever they are). Make your central family so quarrelsome, incurious,irrational, and just plain annoying that we long to escape from theircompany — and then force us to spend the entire movie seeing all theevents through their eyes. Let Tom Cruise bicker with his teenage sonin a tedious sitcom way while civilization is crumbling around them andhundreds of people are being vaporized. Encourage Dakota Fanning toscream, scream, scream throughout the entire film so that we can savorthe joy of having a little kid screaming shrilly in our ears. Take aheart-meltingly beautiful actress like Miranda Otto and make herpregnant so that she looks pudgy and matronly — and since she’s theMother Figure, don’t give her anything interesting to do. Have humanbeings — who might be expected to scatter and flee at giant killertripods — crowd together and gaze up at these lethal 200-foot-tallmachines with a dumb awestruck wonder approaching zombiehood (even aherd of sheep would display more survival skills). In particular, atthe first sight of the first alien war machine thrusting up from thepavement somewhere in Queens, NY, have your multiethnic crowds assemblearound the widening hole just inches from the edge and peer inside,even as the sidewalk begins to crack and buildings around them fall topieces. Give the hero a Quest, a Goal, that’s really dumb and just thisside of pointless — in this case, somehow getting himself and his twokids from NYC to Boston, where his ex-wife is — but don’t reveal howhe manages, improbably, to get there, and don’t let us know why heassumes she (or anyone in Boston, for that matter) would still bealive. Don’t give any other human beings any direction or motivation atall, but instead just show them shuffling like refugees down roads,bound God knows where, or fleeing together in a panic — for no logicalreason — onto a ferry boat which has no chance of getting away and noparticular safe place to go. Wherever humans are, have them congregatein groups so that the lethal tripods can pick them off and slaughterthem more easily. Have the motivation and intentions of the aliensthemselves remain thoroughly obscure: At first, when they presumablywant to rid the earth of mankind, don’t have them use poison gas (as Iseem to recall Wells did), but instead let them content themselves withfiring death rays, like target practice, at individual fleeing humans– the most inefficient method of extermination imaginable. Then,midway through, suggest that — for no particular reason — the aliensare vampires who seek human blood. When all of metropolitan New York,or perhaps the whole East Coast, is plunged in a blackout, have thehero and his family reach an unnamed suburb at nighttime where,miraculously, the one house they’re seeking is flooded with light: theonly house on the street, standing empty but with every lightinexplicably burning (and no other humans around to investigate). Havethe hero be a derrick operator and presumably something of a technicalexpert, but don’t use any of his expertise during the course of thestory. While the eponymous War is raging, don’t use the benefits ofmodern computer graphics to show us what’s interesting (such as abattle between the Air Force and the aliens); keep the action for whatseems a quarter of the film confined to a couple of basements, so that,claustrophobically, we feel as if we’re watching a low-budgetthree-person stage play with all the action going on — unseen –outside the windows. Whenever possible show humans screaming,despairing, panicking, and fighting among themselves — nevercooperating or displaying any ingenuity. Take the one potentiallyinteresting, sympathetic character (Tim Robbins), the one character whohas a dream, however crackbrained, of resistance to the invaders, andquickly turn him into a loony that will engage Cruise in a fight to thedeath. When, in the time-tested Spielberg manner, you have the FamilyReunited At The End, stage the scene in such a hokey, amateurish,improbable way that the audience around me laughed derisively.

Let’s face it – Hollywood blockbusters are usually bloated and soullessdisappointments. We keep going along in the hope that we’ll seesomething worth seeing. Well this is one of those rare occasions whenour persistence pays off. By most rationale judgements ‘War of theWorlds’ is superior entertainment. It is also a remarkably faithfuladaptation of Well’s novel, which after the Spielberg-produced ‘TimeMachine’ of a few years back was a major concern. Some reviewers haveaccused the film of a stereotypical happy Hollywood ending; theyobviously don’t know the source, it is in fact very faithful. Thehomages to the 1953 film are appropriate and touching without beingcute.

This dark and realistic film convinces that this is what it could belike if we were indeed invaded by extraterrestrials. There are severalscenes this viewer found disturbing including a confronting eventwitnessed from a diner. As mentioned elsewhere references to 9/11 andthe Holocaust abound. At one point as Cruise witnesses the feeding ofthe invaders he examines and wipes his hands in an echo of Schindler’sresponse to the ash belched from the Nazi death camps.

Despite this and because of it’s direct storytelling, Spielberg’s filmsucceeds at being a lot of fun to watch, much like the 50′s sci-fimovies that it at times so successfully tributes.

The performances are of a high calibre with Dakota Fanning being thestand out. Some complain about her evident neediness throughout thefilm, which they find annoying. It’s difficult to imagine how anyone,particularly a child, could not be needy under such circumstances.

Tom Cruise’s portrayal is something of a revelation displayingvulnerability refreshing in this genre. Compared to say Mel Gibson’scharacter in the similarly premised ‘Signs’, Cruise’s characterdisplays considerably more human frailty, convincingly breaking down onseveral occasions. His performance is more than competent despiteassertions to the contrary by some who seem to be more concerned by hisoff-screen behaviour and persona.

Despite these character strengths it is the war machines themselvesthat impress most. They are truly formidable. Their design, walkinggait and especially the heat ray are very effective. Here I must defendthe heat ray, which others have criticised as a very inefficient methodof genocide. True enough, though I doubt many would find thousandsdying from gas or infection particularly ‘entertaining’. Wells agreed.His invaders used a form of gas but the heat ray was his Martians’weapon-of-choice.

This said the film is not without its shortcomings. Primary among theseis the appearance of the alien which to this viewer is spookily similarto another recent alien invasion flick. Spielberg and others associatedwith the production must have been aware of this similarity. Other thanhomage, it’s difficult to explain the resemblance.

I also agree with others who have said it may have been better to keepthe invaders more obscure. Wells was vague in his descriptions knowingthat allusions to the hideous was more frightening. Once again however,the director would have been criticised had he not clearly shown thebeasties.

The ending mentioned earlier does seem a little rushed. I feel it wouldhave been better if there had been a slower growth in awareness of theinvader’s predicament. This is where the film may once again have donebetter staying closer to the novel. Descriptions of Well’s dyingMartians calling to one another across a deserted London are haunting.

However considering the total achievement of this film these are minorcarps. War of the Worlds requires a suspension of disbelief typical offantasy film. What is does not require, necessary for so many summerblockbusters, is a suspension of critical judgment.

Just saw a sneak of War of the Worlds. It surprises me how a collectionof so much talent can make a product so, I’m sorry to say, bland. Yes,it has good points. The war machines are impressive, the destructionsequences (what there are of them) are awesome, and the special effectsin general are incredible. But this is what we’ve come to expect in aSpielberg film. A movie needs more than cool special effects… welearned that way back with Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

The first part of the film takes great care with the characterdevelopment of the Tom Cruse character and his children. But they don’treally grow at all throughout the rest of the film! There is an oldquestion to ask… do we care about these characters? I, for one,didn’t. The story plods along, spending a lot of time showing peoplerunning, people hiding, people running, hiding, and occasionally showsan alien war machine (no mention at all of Mars in the entirefilm)doing something. Many of us fans were excited that the film wouldmake use of the Martian "Red Weed" which the aliens plant on Earth tomake it more like their home. Well, the weed is there, but that’s aboutit. It’s there for a few scenes. And the aliens… personally I thinkit would have been far better to leave them out of the film entirely.In the original film we only caught fleeting glimpses of the creatures.In this one, we see them walking around, looking at photographs,playing with a bicycle, in all their CGI glory. Unfortunately, theylook too much like a cross between their machines and the aliens fromIndependence Day for my taste. By the end of the movie, I was surprisedto see that it ran less than two hours. It seemed like three!

A real problem is that the film tries to play the story of the invasiona lot like "Signs" did so well a few years ago. Tell the story from thePOV of the average Joe. Trouble is that this average Joe is so averagethat even when he runs from the aliens and sees them doing horriblethings, it comes across almost dull.

There are several tips-of-the-hat to the original George Pal film from1953, including cameo’s by Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. But it justdoesn’t grab me. Someone asked me, on the way out of the theater, ifI’d go see it again, or buy it on DVD. I answered no to both.

I hate to say just how disappointed I am in this film. I really, REALLYwanted to like it. The afore mentioned Independence Day, itself aremake of War of the Worlds, was a film that I also disliked, for manyof the same reasons. Yet I found myself liking that film a little morethan this one. Give me the old George Pal film, or even a few episodesof the television series, over this film any day.

"War of the Worlds" is Steven Spielberg’s third movie in whichextraterrestrials visit Earth, but the first in which their intentionsare malevolent. It can’t be coincidence that the arrival of the ETs isheralded with eerie lights flashing amid lowering clouds, as in "CE3K."From there, the similarity ends–no light show as friendly aliens comein for a closer look. These creatures (presumably Martians, as in theoriginal H.G. Wells novel) aren’t interested in making nice; nor isthere any ambiguity about their ultimate objective (as there was formuch of "CE3K"). They’re here to wipe us off the face of the planet,plain and simple, a point we understand before the movie has played foreven half an hour, and the giant walking tripods they deploy areremorselessly efficient. So, too, is the movie–at scaring the hell outof us, notwithstanding some gaping plot holes (what’s up with thatcamcorder, anyway?) and a couple of sequences that are too reminiscentof other movies (particularly "Independence Day" and Spielberg’s own"Jurassic Park").

That Spielberg uses imagery alluding to 9/11, the Holocaust, andperhaps the siege of London during World War II is, for me, less anexploitation than a reflection of how seriously he intends the audienceto take the on screen mayhem. The atmosphere is heavy with threat, andthe depiction of a populace numb with shock amid the devastation ischillingly convincing, despite a few moments of Hollywood cheese. Wedon’t have Will Smith delivering snappy one-liners right after millionsare massacred by the invading alien forces, a la "ID4." Nor is theremuch of a rah-rah, let’s-kick-some-alien-ass mood as the outmatchedEarthlings try fighting back. Even the ostensible protagonist (alow-key, effective Tom Cruise) crumples at one point under the enormityof what’s happening.

I’m not really sure what the posters who complained of insufficientaction and FX were talking about. Seems to me the tripods were prettymuch a constant presence (if not always in the foreground) from aboutthe 15-minute mark onward. And in fact the "war" of the title is wagedfrom the beginning–it’s just not on the level of humans vs. alienscombat that some viewers apparently were expecting.

The film is directed as an Action-Adventure rather than as aHorror-thriller. If only it had been directed by the Steven Spielbergwho directed Jaws, or by the Ridley Scott who directed Alien. Instead,Spielberg has made forgettable junk, cobbled together too quickly, withfar too little imagination. Apart from a decent enough alien fightingmachine, this was an artless pastiche of many superior versions of thisoverused story. If you are not going to re-imagine a story, why bothertelling it? This screenplay was barely written at all, it feels like itwas jammed together over a couple of conference call story meetings.

The people were either uninteresting (Tom Cruise) or poorly played (TimRobbins). Dramatic set pieces such as the alien probe searching forhumans in the basement have been done better in other movies. In thiscase, the basement scene had no real dramatic tension and it playedinterminably. Tom Cruise’s character’s decision on how to deal with TimRobbin’s character might have been believable if it had been sudden andimpulsive but instead the lead up to it was needlessly drawn out andridiculously sentimentalized at the same time.

The burning train praised by so many critics was to me a wastedsequence – it appeared almost like a bunch of people on screen stoppedto watch a short film of a burning train racing past. How much betterif they had been waiting to be rescued by that train and then saw itcoming and had to run to escape before it crashed burning into thetrain station. Yes, that is stolen from Day of the Triffids but so muchelse about this patched together script was stolen, they might as wellhave stolen that, too. Then, in panicked desperation, people doingsomething as irrational as getting on board a slow-moving ferry wouldhave been almost believable.

I give this a 1/10 because Steven Spielberg has said that he has thepower to make any movie he wishes. In that case, there is no excuse forthis one not being a classic.